In this age of Youtube influencers and access to technology, there are literally thousands of videos online calling for our attention. Clickbait galore, its hard to know what's worth watching; what will truly feed our minds and give us a fresh perspective. I often come across some of the best (or strangest) content on accident through my recommended page, but others are more hidden like Li Ziqi, a Chinese Youtuber who lives on a farm deep in the Sichuan mountains of China.
Li Ziqi lives off the land and creates incredible handmade food and items that she sells locally. Her youtube channel consists of beautiful process videos that detail how she plants crops and harvests from her garden and forest, preparing and cooking delicious food in her outdoor kitchen.
YouTube/Li Ziqi
Combining natural elements with the tradition of honoring family in her work, Li Ziqi creates amazing things with just her hands and the world outside. She doesn't speak in most of her videos, but rather plays soothing music while we watch her go to work. Don't worry though! Switch on the English captions to get the details of each step so you can try her recipes yourself.
It's not just food either. Bamboo furniture, silk and natural dye, this petite woman shows us how much we are capable of when we have the knowledge and dedication to live naturally. She has already become a major celebrity in China, inspiring people to return to their roots. Through her videos and the power of the internet, people from around the world are learning about Chinese culture and traditions of the countryside.
In a busy, wasteful world we live in, many people find calm in her simple life. "She is not a forest goddess or any magical inhuman creature. She is a human, living with the Earth the way it was always intended" one commenter said, while many others have expressed how much Li Ziqi's videos have helped with their anxiety and depression. Perhaps we crave living a more simplistic, natural life as humans. It sure would explain her popularity skyrocketing since she began the channel in 2017 and the way so many others have started their own natural cooking and lifestyle channels.
Li Ziqi demonstrates a mystical sense of ancient Chinese tradition. Without saying it, she shows her viewers the value of the Han and Tang Dynasty traditions and how to blend them with the modern world we live in.
